Santa Clara County’s Heading Home program

In Santa Clara County about 600 families are currently experiencing homelessness and another 600 new families enter homelessness for the first time every year.   In 2021, Destination: Home joined with the County of Santa Clara, City of San Jose, Santa Clara County Housing Authority, Cisco, and several other Continuum of Care partners to launch HEADING HOME – a community-wide campaign to end family homelessness.

The goal of the HEADING HOME campaign is to achieve “functional zero” homelessness – meaning the number of housing placements for families is greater than the number of families entering homelessness. The county received nearly $600,000 from the Emergency Solutions Grants Program, which can be used to fund shelter operations, outreach, homelessness prevention or rapid rehousing. Over the past five years, the county has received $2.5 million in these grants and largely used the money to fund rapid rehousing programs, which give people time-limited rental subsidies. 

For families currently experiencing homelessness: Contact the Countywide Shelter Hotline at (408) 385-2400 to be assessed and connected with available housing and shelter options for homeless families.

For families at-risk of becoming homeless: Contact the Homelessness Prevention System at (408) 926-8885 to learn about financial assistance and other resources for families at-risk of losing their housing.

Property owners who rent to a homeless or at-risk family participating in this campaign can qualify for several landlord incentives and benefits!